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I Love You Man!

Life is crazy. Time goes by way too fast. We need to slooowwwww dooowwwwnnnn and make each moment matter.

As true as those facts may be, we are still running, crazed and hurried, shuttling children, maintaining marriages, working jobs, feeding friendships, and we don’t always take the time to notice our blessings. If we stop to think about it, we can sometimes sense a fleeting gratefulness for those cherished cogs in our spinning wheels, but then the panic sets in and we have to rush off to the next "to-do." Cherished moment forgotten. Just because we are blessed doesn't always guarantee that we are blessed and aware. Today, I am making a promise to be more aware, and I’d like to invite you to join me.

I'll start with a note on friendship. Driving around yesterday, I found myself reflecting on some very important friendships that have blessed and enhanced my life immeasurably over the last several years. And then I wondered, am I to them, what they are to me? Do I share the love?

Many mornings, right after I drop off the kids, or when I’m off to run errands, or on my drive to work, I call one of my best girlfriends. We chat about things like a great find at Trader Joe’s (helllooo yummy vanilla wafers!), or a hilarious blog post that made us laugh so hard we couldn't see through the tears, or that our tween daughters are rolling their eyes like they invented the gesture, or that our third-graders want iPhones. We talk about husbands and kids, parents and in-laws, chores and projects, recipes and sales...all of life's mundane, as well as important details. No matter the time or topic, I need these friends and our invaluable exchanges.

If you watch Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll understand the reference: each of these ladies is “My Person.” That I have more than one makes me want to dance and shout "I-LOVE-YOU-MAN!" as I squeeze them tight. I. Feel. So. Blessed. I don’t think I was aware of the meaning of true friendship, and all of its benevolent facets, until I was in my thirties. And even now that I get it, I know I don't always take the time to reflect and appreciate the amazing, intelligent, inspiring, generous, loving, strong, beautiful women who have taught me the immense value of true friendship, and the even greater blessing of being someone's "Person."

True friendship is the reciprocity of care and consideration, trust and trustworthiness, loyalty and love. It’s being available to each other in times of need and in times of plenty, to share your worries, to share your triumphs, to share your neuroses (and we all have them...a true friend doesn’t judge you when you bring them out of the closet), to share votes of confidence, to share the things that humble you, to share the things that build you up, to share your heartbreaks and those things that warm your heart, and every little intimate, exciting, painful, tender, vulnerable, fulfilling and important moment in between.

So today, slooowwwww dooowwwwnnnn. Find some time to be reflective and aware of the friends who bless your life. Try to remember all the big and little ways that they have unconditionally and openly been available to you and then go out and be their "Person" too.

{J}

Holly and Jenn

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We are Holly and Jenn, friends since our teens were in kinder and writing partners since we learned of a shared dream and were brave enough to chase it. Currently obsessed with hot tea, rainy days, lovely writing and Netflix, you will find us contemplating ALL the things here on our blog. We write YA fiction and hope to bring insight, inspiration, and a healthy dose of levity to other writers on the path to publication. It is the best of times.